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Reponse to 'Opposing prayer in Toronto public schools, with dignity' - Macleans.ca

The Canadian Hindu community has been, and continues to be, victimized by violence and hatred. As representatives of Canadian Hindus, the Canadian Hindu Advocacy is now being subjected to attacks and innuendos, often from biased media.

In the controversy over Valley Park School, terrified Hindu parents had contacted us to complain about Islamic students disrupting classes every week by having imams lead prayers in the cafeteria. They felt that the TDSB was so thoroughly infected with Islamist sympathies that they would suffer consequences for speaking up.

Recently, CHA was approached by a reporter who arrived half an hour before our planned picket and demanded to know on camera where ‘all the Hindus are’. His goal was to discredit the Canadian Hindu Advocacy, despite the known fact that we are a large national group which has published over 100 op-eds and letters to the editor in the National Post, Financial Post, and Toronto Sun over the last few years. All are freely available on our website in our ‘Media’ section.

You cannot get much more mainstream than that. In the current controversy, some fringe Hindu groups are trying to score cheap publicity by attacking our noble organization, or taking contrary views to stoke conflict.

These groups should be aware that we exist to counter hate and oppression, mostly from Sikh and Muslim fundamentalists, that Hindus have suffered from in Canada.

They should note that over 330 mostly Hindus were slaughtered by suspected Sikh Khalistan fundamentalists in the Air India tragedy, while Canadian authorities bungled the investigation, treated victims with contempt, and recently offered a financial package which victim families termed as ‘an insult’.

They should also note that after 9/11, the only religious structure destroyed in Canada was a Hindu temple in Hamilton. When the temple asked the McGuinty government for financial assistance to rebuild, they were told governments cannot fund religious establishments.

The ‘Scamgate’ scandal revealed this same government handed over millions in grants to religious groups, including a dozen Muslim groups and a Sikh temple whose posters celebrate the suspects in the Air India bombing.

These incidents happened because Hindus had no effective clout, while Muslims and Sikhs ran roughshod over Hindu rights with the connivance of Canadian governments and authorities.

Muslims are now twisting the meaning of ‘reasonable accommodation’ to their benefit again. A reasonable solution would have been for Islamic students to pack bag lunches and traipse to the nearby mosque during their hour-long lunch break. Disrupting classes harms everyone and benefits none.

Hindu and other non Muslim students are adversely affected by 400 Muslims marching in and out of class, while Muslims miss an hour of instruction every week.

Canadian Hindu temples and groups have proven themselves unable or unwilling to protect Hindu lives, rights, or property. The Canadian Hindu Advocacy was formed to address this, and our national advocacy shall continue to provide real leadership to our oppressed community, which is by far the most victimized in Canada.

We have formed a multi faith coalition with the Christian Heritage Party and Jewish Defence League of Canada. We will work to restore Canadian values of democracy and freedom, which are themselves a combination of both Hindu and Judeo Christian principles.

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Reponse to ‘Opposing prayer in Toronto public schools, with dignity’

As a public school teacher, I want to thank Ron Bannerjee for speaking up on this matter which is about fairness and preserving class time for secular learning. I have listened to him speak several times and his comments have been fair minded. Taxpayers and teachers are grateful for his input.

interestingly enough, Ron isn’t actually a tax payer (unless you count buying from the corner store, but i’m speaking of income taxes), at least not on a regular basis. he doesn’t have a paying job. and rabid racist rabble rousing doesn’t actually pay that well. just ask the landlord who recently evicted him.

You haven’t actually contributed anything to the argument of why public schools shouldn’t be about fairness and preserving secular learning for all. All you’ve done is tried to badmouth someone who disagrees with you.

actually, i have not badmouthed someone who has disagreed with me. i have revealed truthful information about someone. big difference.

and for the record, i do not support any sort of prayer in publicly funded schools. neither does Ron, but his reasons are CLEARLY based on bigotry, not to mention out-and-out lies.

someone should tell Ron that people with a valid point don’t have to resort to racism and falsehoods. of course, he knows that, but he enjoys being the way he is.

i know him personally, and have helped him a great deal in the past (got him a job, got him a bursary for school, etc…), but no more as i now know what sort of person he really is – sick and twisted, and not deserving of Canadian citizenship. and i did give him every chance to behave better.

“We have formed a multi faith coalition with the Christian Heritage Party and Jewish Defence League of Canada. We will work to restore Canadian values of democracy and freedom, which are themselves a combination of both Hindu and Judeo Christian principles.”

Good luck, Mr Banerjee. I hope you, and other orgs, can be achieve your goals because Canada would be immensely improved if it works.

I don’t know if there are any Buddhist orgs, but they too should be asked to join coalition against Muslims and Sikhs.

Ron Banerjee’s Canadian Hindu Advocacy is an extremist fringe group linked with the far right RSS and BJP party and he has never been able to produce more than two members – himself and his sidekick Naresh Patel. Mainstream Hindu organizations distance themselves from him and the fact that the Canadian media hasn’t looked behind the curtain of his group doesn’t change that. His group is a Potemkin Village, it’s little more than a website and two guys.

the two examples of Hindus oppressed by Muslims: is an Air India bombing which is allegedely done by some members of the Sikh community, and the hindu temple vanadlized after 9/11 by people who mistook it for Muslim place of worship. Oh yes, the word ‘Muslim” could be added to this sentence, so this must be blamed on Muslims.

Bilingual Muslims children have a right, as much as any other faith group, to be taught their culture, languages and faith alongside a mainstream curriculum. More faith schools will be opened under sweeping reforms of the education system in England. There is a dire need for the growth of state funded Muslim schools to meet the growing needs and demands of the Muslim parents and children. Now the time has come that parents and community should take over the running of their local schools. Parent-run schools will give the diversity, the choice and the competition that the wealthy have in the private sector. Parents can perform a better job than the Local Authority because parents have a genuine vested interest. The Local Authority simply cannot be trusted.

The British Government is planning to make it easier to schools to “opt out” from the Local Authorities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality, and the lack of a true understanding of Islam can ultimately make them more susceptible to the teachings of fundamentalists like Christians during the middle ages and Jews in recent times in Palestine. Fundamentalism is nothing to do with Islam and Muslim; you are either a Muslim or a non-Muslim.

There are hundreds of state primary and secondary schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion all such schools may be opted out to become Muslim Academies. This mean the Muslim children will get a decent education. Muslim schools turned out balanced citizens, more tolerant of others and less likely to succumb to criminality or extremism. Muslim schools give young people confidence in who they are and an understanding of Islam’s teaching of tolerance and respect which prepares them for a positive and fulfilling role in society. Muslim schools are attractive to Muslim parents because they have better discipline and teaching Islamic values. Children like discipline, structure and boundaries. Bilingual Muslim children need Bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods, who understand their needs and demands.

None of the British Muslims convicted following the riots in Bradford and Oldham in 2001 or any of those linked to the London bombings had been to Islamic schools. An American Think Tank studied the educational back ground of 300 Jihadists; none of them were educated in Pakistani Madrasas. They were all Western educated by non-Muslim teachers. Bilingual Muslim children need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. A Cambridge University study found that single-sex classes could make a big difference for boys. They perform better in single-sex classes. The research is promising because male students in the study saw noticeable gains in the grades. The study confirms the Islamic notion that academic achievement is better in single-sex classes.
IAhttp://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Religion has NO place in public schools, period. It is a personal affair.

Single gender schools are great for grades, but that is not a muslim “finding” It was very common in many school systems not long ago.

But grades are not the only factor to consider in the school system. Proper integration in the society is also a factor. Single gender schools require constant mixed gender activities to ensure children grow to be fully functioning members of a society that values both genders as equal.

So failing the effort for mixed gender activities, mixed gender schools are the next best option.

The solution is easy, Religion has NO place on the public school system.

Prayers in the cafeteria? Ridiculous. That’s not a reasonable accommodation.

Religious bickering has no place in Canada. They (hindus and muslim and christians and whoever else) have the right to self delusion. But non of them have the right to bring religious wars to Canada. Don’t like a secular society? then go leave somewhere else.

I welcome all atheists and religious people from all denominations who want to live their own faith (or lack off) without trying to shove it on someone else and who want to respect others.

Canada is what it is because of the liberal secular values it has adopted and further developed. Our school system should teach newcomers why our system is better than the systems people left behind. That would be good education.

And here I’m not saying it is perfect. But this particular system self corrects over time instead of depending on ancient dogmas.

It is very interesting that one Muslim fringe group, Muslim Canadian Congress (AKA Tarek Fattah and Raheel Reza) came out in full force in the favour of Canadian Hindu Advocacy and their opposition to the prayers in school. However, they were largely ignored by the media this time. And the most interesting thing is that Mr.Banerjee and his other partners’ hate for Islam and Muslims didn’t allow them to welcome this so called Muslim group into their coalition. i hope at least MCC can learn a lesson from this.

Hilarious that this clown wants to mention the Air India case where CSIS “accidentally deleted” the sting-op tapes, and had no convictions for, yet doesn’t mention the Sikh genocide perpetrated by the Hindu politicians at the time where 100,000 + Sikh men were burnt alive whilst the women were raped by Hindu mobs. All this yet this clown plays like the 98% Hindu majority of India is the victim, a clown through and through. Glad that his “organization” got uncovered as simply him and his crazy uncle on CityNews.

This guy Iftikhar Ahmed should be banned from all public forums. He posts the same comment on boards or commenets section of any news about Muslims living in Western countries. His comment is exactly the same from Canadian newssites to British news sites to Middle eastern newssites. I wonder who is behind this name. Is this a little program or an agent or a crazy person-just wondering out loud.

Wow, is this little for real? Is Mr.Bannerjee living in the same Canada as the rest of us? On the one hand he complains about being victimized in Canada – on the other hand he promotes hatred and distrust of another religious group and their values. This article is as fake as his claim about the credibility in numbers of his little one-man Hindu show. Also, all the comments in favour of this article on here are quite transparently planted by him and his cronies. People like you and your little groupies that took part in this demo are not interested in promoting harmony – you people are simply drumming up hatred and discrimination. Canada is a multicultural country that accomodates all Mr. Bannerjee – if ‘you’ don’t like it then take your own advice and go back to India where you can enjoy the discriminatory caste system that is a part of what you believe in.

Wow, is Bannerjee living in the same Canada as the rest of us? Who is this guy anyway because I’ve never heard of him or his organisation. Amazing that MacLeans can even give this guy time of day.

It’s obvious from this article that Mr. Bannerjee is not actually ‘happy’ with the people who run the country he has chosen to live in, ie, Canada. He has expressed hatred towards Sikhs, Muslims, and the Canadian system/Government. It’s also obvious that any positive supportive comments in this blog are coming either from himself or his friend – intelligent people reading this wouldn’t be posting any comments that support or give credibility to anything this man claims in this article. One word, ridiculous.

Bannerjee says nothing to convince any intelligent person with half a brain cell and certainly does not represent Canadian values of embracing and enjoying a multicultural Canada. It’s laughable and ironic that here is a man who complains of discrimination against Hindus by all parties concerned, yet he adheres to a religion that supports a discriminatory caste system. We don’t go on hate missions to question this part of his faith, as the saying goes, “live and let live”.

He and his handful of buddies are not interested in promoting harmony, they’re drumming up hatred and discrimination within Canada, whether against our system, values, Sikhs or Muslims. If he doesn’t like it here, he should take his own advice and go back to India where he can get his kicks looking down on those of the lower castes. People like this have no place in Canada with their discriminatory views, it goes against what Canada represents. The TDSB are doing a great job, we’re proud of you for standing your ground. Keep up the good work, you have the support of normal non-delusional Canadians.

Mr. Ron Banergee YOU NEED TO BE DEPORTED BACK TO INDIA. Canada is FREE country. We eat BEEF here while you think COW IS GOD. We kill rats while india has rat temple and rat god. So clearly if Canadians are killing your GOD everyday you dont fit in here. You are NOT CANADIAN and you should leave to INDIA which you believe is GR8 country.

I AM FREE TO PRAY , EAT , PLAY, SLEEP, RUN and do anything I want as long as I am not bothering others freedom.

too bad most media outlets and a whole bunch of politicians have fallen for the nonsense that Banerjee actually leads an organization. it’s just him and a few friends, emphasis on the ‘few’. the rest of it is purely imaginary. that’s right, the ungrammatically-named Canadian Hindu Advocacy is a SCAM which has fooled many not willing to do their homework.

Ron’s hatred of muslims, sikhs, christians, gays and blacks (i’ve got 100+ emails from him to prove it) knows no bounds. he likes to brag about how many letters he’s published, and it is a lot, that’s true, but all it really shows is the demented depths of his bigotry and hatred which is so strong that it borders on mental illness.

and like so many ultra right wing neon-cons, Ron has a second secret life – starts with P ends with N and rhymes with corn, yes indeed, he acts in films of this ilk, and not just any kind, but really whacky fringe ones. he even got fired from one fetish site because the women working there actually complained about his weirdness. must have been painful to lose a gig where he got paid to lick women’s high heel shoes. and yes, i can prove what i say about his other life.

only one problem with that otherwise excellent post, Haroon treats Ron’s “group” as if it was a legit one and not just him and a few friends, mostly imaginary ones. the one thing about Ron, though, is that he spends most of his time hating and writing letters to newspapers and politicians. the bit of time he has left, he manages to get himself on radio and tv. it’s going to be truly embarrassing for those who gave him a forum when they understand who and what he really is – a small man with a small group with small thoughts. and i can’t get the comments to load.

You’re wrong. Everyone knows that group is nothing. They listen to him because he says controversial things and the media likes that. That’s all. In fact by discussing him further we give more publicity.
This whole thing happened over the summer. Anyone heard much about them since? Well, there’s a reason for that. Think about it.
I dont really even mind him getting on radio .. he sounds so crazy and deluded, he doesnt win many fans.
No sense making a mountain out of a molehill.

actually, i’m not wrong. and also, Ron is VERY active. and gets a lot of notice and attention. you only have to check his site to see what he’s up to, and that’s something every week, sometimes every day.

you’re right about the crazy and deluded part. the problem is that he’s all the time being noticed by the media, and not everyone thinks he’s nuts, as evidenced by some of the comments here, not planted by him.

while you dismiss him and talk about mountains and molehills, he’s quietly writing letters and calling politicians, and even getting funding for his activities, and sneaking and weaseling his way into Canadian life.

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